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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 ABC’s World News Tonight went to town Tuesday
evening, as they fanned the flames of fear over potential conflicts of
interest between President-Elect Donald Trump’s businesses and his
presidential duties. “ With growing concerns tonight, about how he continues to push his business ventures, Donald Trump told The New York Times, ‘The law is on my side. The president can't have a conflict of interest,’”
fretted ABC’s Chief investigative Correspondent Brain Ross. But such
concern over conflicts of interest were scant when they covered Hillary
Clinton pre-election.
“In
the two weeks since the election, Trump has taken the time to meet with
the Indian developers of two Trump Towers in their country, who posted
this picture and then took it down,” reported Ross. He also
whined about Trump talking about wind turbines near his golf club in
Scotland with a British politician, and his daughter Ivanka sitting in
on a call with Japan’s prime minister.
But
back in October, ABC completely ignored the WikiLeaks e-mail exposing
how the king of Morocco donated $12 million to the Clinton Foundation.
In exchange for the money, the king expected a private meeting with the
former secretary of state. The donation came just before she planned to
announce her doomed run for president.
“Trump has investments or deals in at least 18 countries around the world,”
Ross warned, but yet the Clinton Foundation takes in money from
dignitaries from all over the world. And the Associated Press confirmed
that, “More than half the people outside the government who met with
Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state gave money — either
personally or through companies or groups — to the Clinton Foundation.”
From there, Ross’ report took an interesting turn when he interviewed Peter Schweizer. He is author of the book Clinton Cash,
which talked about many of the underhanded and sleazy ways the Clintons
became uber-wealthy through speeches, favors, and donations. “You're
going to have foreign entities, foreign governments offering sweetheart
deals in the hope of favorable action from the president of the United
States,” Schweizer told Ross.
It’s
peculiar that ABC suddenly cares about what Schweizer is concerned
about now. Especially after ABC’s resident Clinton lackey, George
Stephanopoulos, colluded with the Clinton campaign to discredit
Schweizer and his work regarding the ABC moderator’s former employer.
Ross
also feared about how Trump would handle a German bank that is being
investigated by the US government and is looking at a $14 billion
settlement. The bank in question issued loans to Trump so he could build
many resorts and other projects. Ross hyped the actions taken by
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal who, “is calling for a special prosecutor to make sure the justice department does not back down.”
It’s
amazing how much a network cares about conflicts of interest when the
candidate they didn’t want becomes the president-elect.
Transcript below:
ABC
World News Tonight
November 22, 2016
6:40:09 PM Eastern
DAVID
MUIR: Mr. Trump was also asked about his business, and potential
conflicts of interest. The president-elect once saying in the campaign,
if elected, "I couldn't care less about my company, it's peanuts."
Here's ABC's Chief Investigative Correspondent, Brian Ross.
[Cuts to video]
BRIAN ROSS: With growing concerns tonight, about how he continues to push his business ventures, Donald Trump told The New York Times, "The law is on my side. The president can't have a conflict of interest." But throughout the campaign, Trump had pledged to leave his business empire behind.
DONALD TRUMP: If I become president, I couldn't care less about my company.
ROSS: Yet,
in the two weeks since the election, Trump has taken the time to meet
with the Indian developers of two Trump Towers in their country, who
posted this picture and then took it down. He
complained to a British politician about eye sore wind turbines near his
Scottish golf course. And he’s boasted his brand is hotter than ever.
His daughter Ivanka's jewelry company tried to cash in on her appearance
on 60 Minutes to sell her line of $10,000 bracelets.
 Since
then, Trump has included his daughter in a meeting with the Japanese
prime minister, as she prepared to take over his company, which already
has been seeking deals in Asia. Trump defended that today, saying, "If it were up to some people, I would never, ever see my daughter Ivanka again." Trump
has investments or deals in at least 18 countries around the world.
Now, some of his own advisers fear the president-elect is already
creating conflicts.
PETER SCHWEIZER: You're
going to have foreign entities, foreign governments offering sweetheart
deals in the hope of favorable action from the president of the United
States.
ROSS:
And today, there are questions whether Trump, as president, would take
actions to huge German bank, which has loaned him more than $300
million. Trump used the money to buy the Doral golf course in Florida
and build hotels in Chicago and his new one in Washington. But Deutsche
Bank is also now the target of two major investigations by the US
Department of Justice, facing a possible $14 billion settlement, which
could imperil the bank and effect Trump's loans. Senator Richard
Blumenthal, a Democrat, is calling for a special prosecutor to make
sure the justice department does not back down.
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: There's
a clear conflict of interest between Donald Trump's personal business
interests and his public duties, in fact, his public trust.
ROSS:
Not for Donald Trump, who said today, "In theory, I could run my
business perfectly and then run the country perfectly," adding, "There's
never been a case like this."
[Cuts back to live]
MUIR: Brian Ross is with us tonight. And the president-elect said something more to The New York Times, in fact, he said, "The law is totally on my side here."
ROSS: Well, that’s right David. There
is no low that specifically requires the president to give up his
business or put it in a blind trust. Trump says he'd like to do
something to address ethics issues, but he also seems to be suggesting
that he could continue to be involved with his business in some limited
way and there's nothing legally to prevent him from doing that, David.
MUIR: The scrutiny that comes when you're elected president. Brian tonight, thank you.
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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 CNN continued to try and tie Donald Trump to a gathering of neo-Nazis that occurred in Washington DC over the weekend, during Tuesday’s edition of The Lead. That’s even after the president-elect denounced to group on the record with The New York Times. “ And earlier today Donald Trump disavowed a neo-Nazi hate group in a way that he had until now failed to do,” pooh poohed CNN’s Jim Sciutto, “ That is directly and explicitly denouncing a white supremacist organization that spewed anti-Semitic vile and racist vitriol…”
“So Sara, this is a group that went so far in that meeting as to use Nazi salutes to celebrate the president-elect,” hyped Sciutto. “Yes Jim, that’s right they did,” emphasized a very disappointed Sara Ganim, as she seemed to scold Trump, “And
critics say that Donald Trump should have disavowed them sooner, given
how hateful that speech was and how Donald Trump has never been shy away
from speaking or more accurately tweeting his mind.”
Ganim
only briefly mentioned that Trump wanted to look into why the group was
supporting him, before jumping into playing up the gathering. “Celebrating
the Donald Trump victory, the rhetoric and an unmistakable marriage of
neo-Nazi hate and Donald Trump's campaign slogan,” she chided.
She then playing a clip of Alt-Right founder Richard Spencer remarking,
“For us as Europeans, it's only normal again when we are great again.”
And again after briefly noting that Trump had disavowed them, she tried to tie them together saying, “But what used to be a small obscure extremist group operating on the internet now feels emboldened by Trump’s campaign rhetoric.” At the end of her report Ganim reported that, “It's important to remember, these racists factions are small groups, but many of them do feel emboldened now.”
Sciutto ended the report in awe stating, “Yeah, it's credible to the pictures of the Hitler like salute in the year 2016.”
But according to Ganim’s own report it occurred at the annual meeting
of Spencer’s National Policy Institute, which means it could have been
going on for a while now but the main stream media is only searching for
it now.
It
really did seem to be a pretty small event by some standards, since
most reports have the attendance at roughly 200 people. And, as one
columnist at The Guardian noted, other bizarre internet fandoms have much greater turnout for their events:
Indeed,
the alt-right garnered far fewer people at its post-election conference
than BronyCon 2016 did in July. The convention for adult men who like
to dress up in My Little Pony costumes attracted well over 7,000
attendees, more than 20 times what the far right was able to manage.
That might tell us all we need to know about the power of this insidious
white nationalist movement.
CNN’s
freak out over such a small number actually helps the group to gain
notoriety. And the freak out of the liberal media as a whole stems from
an attempt to prove their worst fears about the man none of them thought
would be president. Because if they did care about such radicals, then
why did they say nothing about the ones that came out of the woodwork
when Barack Obama was first elected president?
Transcript below:
CNN
The Lead with Jake Tapper
November 22, 2016
4:38:40 PM Eastern
JIM
SCIUTTO: You're watching live pictures there of President-Elect Donald
Trump's plane taxing on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport in New York,
just moments ago as he gets ready to jet off to Florida for the
Thanksgiving holiday. And earlier today Donald Trump disavowed a
neo-Nazi hate group in a way that he had until now failed to do. That
is directly and explicitly denouncing a white supremacist organization
that spewed anti-Semitic vile and racist vitriol at a gathering over the
weekend in Washington DC. That gathering just a mile from the White House. In a meeting with The New York Times today Trump said, “I condemn them. I disavow, and I condemn,” end quote. CNN’s Sara Ganim joins me know. So Sara, this is a group that went so far in that meeting as to use Nazi salutes to celebrate the president-elect.
SARA GANIM: Yes
Jim, that’s right they did. And critics say that Donald Trump should
have disavowed them sooner, given how hateful that speech was and how
Donald Trump has never been shy away from speaking or more accurately
tweeting his mind. That said, he told The New York Times today that he disavows it and he plans to look into the reason why the group was so energized by his win.
[Cuts to video]
 RICHARD SPENCER: Hail trump. Hail our people and hail victory.
GANIM: This rally happened just down the street from the White House.
SPENCER: Perhaps we should refer to them in the original German: lugenpresse.
GANIM: Celebrating
the Donald Trump victory, the rhetoric and an unmistakable marriage of
neo-Nazi hate and Donald Trump's campaign slogan.
SPENCER: For us as Europeans, it's only normal again when we are great again.
GANIM: At
the podium is Richard Spencer a founder of the movement that calls
itself the Alt-Right, but their message is white supremacism,
anti-Semitism, anti-immigration, neo-Nazi.
SPENCER:
America was, until this past generation, a white country designed for
ourselves and the posterity. It is our creation. It's our inheritance,
and it belongs to us.
GANIM: The crowd gathered this last weekend for the annual conference for Spencer’s think tank, the National Policy Institute.
Many in the crowd cheering on Spencer’s speech with the Nazi salute.
The video is so alarming, the Holocaust Museum in Washington wrote a
letter in response, warning that quote, “The Holocaust did not begin
with killing. It began with words.” Comparing his words to Hitler’s.
Today, in a meeting with The New York Times,
Trump said, “Of course I disavow and condemn them.” But what used to be
a small obscure extremist group operating on the internet now feels
emboldened by Trump’s campaign rhetoric, according to Oren Segal.
OREN SEGAL: They identify with Trump for whatever reason. And they view him as a champion for their cause.
GANIM: And the hiring of Steve Bannon as Chief Strategist in the Trump White House, has only intensified the criticism. While Bannon once reportedly bragged his website Breitbart.com was quote, “The platform for the alt-right,” he later told The Wall Street Journal that he has zero tolerance for those anti-Semitic tones. Though
Trump said today, quote, “If I thought Bannon was a racist or
alt-right, or any of the things, the terms we could use, I wouldn’t even
think about hiring him.” Former Breitbart spokesperson told CNN this will continue to cause problems for Trump.
KURT BARDELLA: He
has said Breitbart is the alt-right platform. These are the people they
have played to, that they have tried to motivate to be the base of
Donald Trump's election. It's just going to be more of this.
[Cuts back to live]
GANIM: Jim
it's important to remember, these racists factions are small groups,
but many of them do feel emboldened now. In fact Richard Spencer told The Washington Post
that he’s planning to start touring and speaking on the college
campuses. He believes that is he will find the supporters of his
movement there. Jim?
SCIUTTO: Yeah, it's credible to the pictures of the Hitler like salute in the year 2016. Sara Ganim, thanks very much.
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By Curtis Houck
A
disturbing trend has emerged since the presidential election as the
liberal media have been promoting neo-Nazis and white nationalists in
hopes to (admirably) discredit them and falsely insinuate that they were
far-right conservatives who propelled Donald Trump to the White House.
Well, this trend manifested itself with five minutes and 17 seconds Tuesday morning on CBS and NBC that attempted to label the neo-Nazi conference as one featuring “conservative extremist[s]”
and added up to three times more coverage than they’ve had on the March
for the Life in the past four years (at one minute and 40 seconds).
As
I’ll return to later, this illustrated not only the disdain the media
have for actual conservatives but also where their mindset lies when it
comes to how it wants to portray people not standing with the left even
if it means legitimizing hateful parts of humanity.
NBC’s Today
was the most notorious as it awarded the Nazi-saluting National Policy
Institute conference four minutes and 17 seconds of coverage that began
with a full report from correspondent Hallie Jackson.
Co-host Savannah Guthrie stated in the lead-in that “some
disturbing new video has surfaced of white nationalists meeting this
weekend in Washington and openly celebrating Trump's election” while Jackson explained the video (from The Atlantic) featured “a conference of the alt-right, a conservative extremist movement with ties to white nationalism” even though their leader in Richard Spencer, is no conservative on issues like abortion.
“In
the crowd, a handful of supporters responding with a straight armed
salute. Spencer telling NBC News his words and the crowd's reaction were
meant to be what he calls “ironic” and “exuberant,” arguing the
alt-right isn't a neo-Nazi group,” Jackson added.
As
the networks usually do in these incidents, they turn to the
anti-conservative Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) head Richard Cohen
to chart the rise in hate crimes since Trump’s election.
Minutes
later, co-host Matt Lauer showed his lack of self-awareness when he
lamented to former Bush administration official and NBC News political
analyst Nicolle Wallace:
In
terms of speaking to Americans, we just saw Hallie’s report on that
gathering of white nationalists in Washington over the weekend. We saw
that Heil Trump salute that looked so much like a Heil Hitler salute.
What does President-elect Trump need to say about that right now to stop
that in its tracks?
Wallace correctly shot back that while the media have been using “alt-right and white nationalism” “interchangeably,” but made clear that this type of hate is “white supremacy” and the only satisfactory response Trump should give is that “they’re not with me” and “denounce it.”
With ABC’s Good Morning America not covering this story, CBS This Morning spent
exactly one minute in an extended brief that this hateful group
couldn’t have dreamed of as co-host Norah O’Donnell reported in part:
The
President-Elect's transition team put out a statement yesterday
denouncing racism of any kind. Earlier in the day, video surfaced from
an alt-right group in Washington cheering Mr. Trump's election. The
alt-right is a fringe movement with ties to white nationalism....The
group says it is excited about Steve Bannon's appointment as White House
chief strategist. Bannon used to run Breitbart News, which he himself
described as a platform for the alt-right movement. Bannon says the
movement is not racist.
Going
back to my earlier point about the media’s toxic obsession with the
National Policy Institute and their Nazi-saluting supporters, this only
undermines the objective that all decent human beings should have in not
giving these individuals attention but inadvertently, the media’s
ensuring that millions of new people will learn about them.
In a quick aside, the split in coverage between what they’ve done in one set of newscasts with the “alt-right” and what’s been done in four years
in covering the faith-filled and peaceful March for Life (which tens of
thousands attend) gives readers and viewers perhaps the most vivid case
of how they’re attempt to influence our lives through agenda-setting
and paint the picture they want about what they deem conservative.
As David Reaboi tweeted on Monday, such a reality is “[u]nfathomably repulsive” but
doesn’t appear to be ending because, in the minds of some in the press,
it’ll help bring down the Republican Party if they’re painted vividly
enough as in lockstep with these anti-Semites.
The Federalist’s David Harsanyi penned an incredible piece on Tuesday about the media’s “political convenient symbiotic relationship” they’ve formed with the alt-right and neo-Nazis. Here’s some of what he had to say (though I suggest reading the whole thing):
For
Jew-hating racists, the attention means they can playact as a viable
and popular movement with pull in Washington. In return, many in the
media get to confirm their own biases, and treat white supremacy as if
it was the secret ingredient to Republican success.
Meanwhile,
this obsessive coverage of the alt-right not only helps mainstream a
small movement, it’s exactly what the bigots need and want to grow.
(....)
Why would The Los Angeles Times give
the GQ treatment to a guy who “heils” victory and quotes Nazi
propaganda onstage in German, as Richard Spencer did this weekend? I
suppose it’s the same reason every major publication gave David Duke,
who was polling at 3-4 percent in his Louisiana Senate race all year,
their undivided attention. (What am I talking about? We’re still hearing
about Duke on a daily basis.) It’s to create the impression that they
matter.
(....)
Another
reading is that coverage is driven with the cynical purpose of
exaggerating the importance of neo-Nazis to tie them to Republicans. The
media will now demand the administration denounce white supremacists
every time they have a meeting — which itself intimates that there is a
connection. Conflating these scary things can create the impression that
conservatism is Trump which is Bannon which is Duke which is Spencer.
The relevant portions of the transcript from NBC’s Today on November 22 can be found below.
NBC’s Today
November 22, 2016
7:08 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Developing Story: “Alt-Right” in the Spotlight; Group Celebrates Trump’s Win Amid Growing Controversy]
SAVANNAH
GUTHRIE: Meanwhile, some disturbing new video has surfaced of white
nationalists meeting this weekend in Washington and openly celebrating
Trump's election and now, the President-elect is being asked to respond.
NBC’s Hallie Jackson has more on this growing controversy. Hallie, good
morning.
 HALLIE
JACKSON: Hi, Savannah. Good morning to you. We're talking about a
gathering of the National Policy Institute here in Washington. A
conference now causing controversy for what was said and who it was said
about. New video now surfacing of a conference of the alt-right, a
conservative extremist movement with ties to white nationalism. At the
podium, the self-proclaimed leader of the movement, Richard Spencer,
using language heard in Nazi, Germany.
RICHARD
SPENCER: For us as Europeans, it is only normal again when we are great
again. Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!
JACKSON:
In the crowd, a handful of supporters responding with a straight armed
salute. Spencer telling NBC News his words and the crowd's reaction were
meant to be what he calls “ironic” and “exuberant,” arguing the
alt-right isn't a neo-Nazi group. That they feel free to criticize Trump
while also praising the President-elect for, as he says, being good for
the movement. In response to the conference in Washington, a Trump
transition spokesman say: “President-elect Trump has continued to
denounce racism of any kind and he was elected because he will be a
leader for every American. To think otherwise is a complete
misrepresentation of the movement that united Americans from all
backgrounds. ”
ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTERS: We say no to racist hate. We don’t want a white state.
JACKSON: Through his campaign, Trump has repeatedly denounced the support of racist groups like the KKK.
DONALD TRUMP [on 03/03/16]: I totally disallow she Klu Klux Klan and I totally disavow David Duke.
JACKSON: And when questioned recently about some supporters inciting violence after the election, he said this.
TRUMP [on CBS’s 60 Minutes, 11/13/16]: I say stop it if it helps. I will say this and I’ll say it right to the cameras, stop it
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER’s RICHARD COHEN: Simply saying stop it is not enough.
JACKSON:
Richard Cohen represents the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has
counted more than 700 reports of hate crimes nationally, like offensive
graffiti and racial slurs since election night, a spike it says occurred
after President-elect Trump won the White House.
(....)
JACKSON:
One of Trump’s first West Wing appointments? Controversial chief
strategist, Steve Bannon who ran conservative news outlet Breitbart
aiming to make it as he said this summer, “the platform for the
alt-right.” Cohen concerned about the tone that sets for the
President-elect’s administration.
COHEN: He said he wants to bind the wounds of division yet in Bannon he appointed someone who fans the flames of division.
JACKSON: But Steve Bannon, in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, said he has zero tolerance for racist or anti-Semitic overtones of the alt-right.
(....)
7:13 a.m. Eastern
MATT
LAUER: In terms of speaking to Americans, we just saw Hallie’s report
on that gathering of white nationalists in Washington over the weekend.
We saw that Heil Trump salute that looked so much like a Heil Hitler
salute. What does President-elect Trump need to say about that right now
to stop that in its tracks?
 NICOLLE
WALLACE: So, we can call it the alt-right and white nationalism and I
understand those are being thrown around interchangeably. It is white
supremacy and there is one answer. It is not only to say they're not
with me, it is to denounce it and in the same way that pressured
candidate Obama to give a speech about race when the conservation in
this country about race became very fraught, I think the pressure is
building on Donald Trump to address the pressure on speaking about white
race and what are blurred lines between white supremacy and his base of
support and if he doesn't, the responsibility will now be on him if we
see some sort of uptick in racial intolerance or racial incidents and
this is not really a concern among adults but if you see these kinds of
conversations — this kind of speech spreading to schools, this is
squarely on his shoulders.
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By Curtis Houck
Disgraced former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather was at it again on Tuesday pontificating on Facebook as he urged Americans and particularly journalists to rise up and not “remain seated or silent” against
concerning aspects of President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda and
neo-Nazis saluting Trump’s win (in another attempt to normalize their
line of hate through free media).
Speaking as if we were on the edge of a massive purge or tragedy, Rather pontificated that “HIstory [sic] will demand to know which side were you on” because “[t]his is not a question of politics or party or even policy” but “a question about the very fundamentals of our beautiful experiment in a pluralistic democracy ruled by law.”
Rather also brought up the neo-Nazi conference:
When
I see neo-Nazis raise their hands in terrifying solute, in public, in
our nation's capital, I shudder in horror. When I see that action mildly
rebuked by a boilerplate statement from the President-elect whom these
bigots have praised, the anger in me grows. And when I see some in a
pliant press turn that mild statement into what they call a denunciation
I cannot hold back any longer.
Perhaps
the most eye-rolling moment was when the man who conjured up and touted
the false story about then-President George W. Bush oozed that, using
the Declaration of Independence as a guide, “[t]hese truths may be self-evident but they are not self-replicating” because “[e]ach generation has to renew these vows.”
He
continued with references to freedom of the press (which he abused and
thus lost his job) and comparing this moment in American history to our
most tenuous moments:
This
nation was founded as an opposite pole to the capriciousness of an
authoritarian monarch. We set up institutions like a free press and an
independent court system to protect our fragile rights. We have survived
through bloody spasms of a Civil War and a Civil Rights Movement to
extend more of these rights to more of our citizens. But the direction
of our ship of state has not always been one of progress. We interned
Japanese Americans, Red Baited during the McCarthy era, and more. I feel
the rip tide of regression once again swelling under my feet. But I
intend to remain standing.
While not quite in the mold of Jorge Ramos, Rather ruled that while the media “usually takes a stance that the new administration at least deserves to have a chance to get started,” the upcoming transfer of power doesn’t represent “normal times” because we’re not discussing policy (who’s fault is that) but instead one “about racism, bigotry, intimidation and the specter of corruption.”
Rather
somehow wound down by ignoring the fact that millions voted for Trump
and not Hillary Clinton because they wanted a change in business as
usual when he admitted that “there is a vast majority who wants to see this nation continue in tolerance and freedom” yet “will require speaking” and civic engagement.
“Flood
newsrooms or TV networks with your calls if you feel they are slipping
into the normalization of extremism. Donate your time and money to
causes that will fight to protect our liberties. We are a great nation.
We have survived deep challenges in our past. We can and will do so
again. But we cannot be afraid to speak and act to ensure the future we
want for our children and grandchildren,” he concluded.
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By Matthew Balan
 On Tuesday, CBS This Morning went gaga over liberal comedian Jon Stewart's and the 17 years of his Daily Show. Charlie Rose gushed that " it became, for all of us, a, kind of, cultural event — more than a show." He later added, " There was nothing quite like him. A lot of people did it very well.... But Jon had a special place." Rose, along with Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell, later marveled over the show's " extraordinary collection" of comedians. The newscast also touted several clips of the Comedy Central program mocking Republicans. [ video below]
Rose yucked it up with Stewart and Chris Smith, co-author of a new Daily Show
book, during the segment, which was part of a larger interview set to
be aired on the host's PBS show. The CBS morning show featured only one
seven-second soundbite of the former Comedy Central star targeting
President Obama. All of the other clips were of The Daily Show mocking/targeting Donald Trump, Bill O'Reilly, former President George W. Bush, and Senator John McCain.
Rose asked Smith, "So Chris, what did it become?
It became, for all of us, a, kind of, cultural event — more than a
show." The guest replied, "It's easy to forget in 2016 what the media
world looked like in 1996, 1997, 1999 — where Comedy Central was — you
know, still kind of a sketchy proposition." This set up Stewart to tout "one of the pivotal segments on the show that we were able to do through — you know, the 'Bush versus Bush'
back in...2003," where the comedian juxtaposed a 2003 speech of the
former president on the Iraq War versus the Republican's anti-nation
building remark in 2000.
The
CBS morning show later zeroed in on Steve Carell's improv-style, joking
interview of McCain when he was campaigning for the Republican
presidential nomination in 2000. Stewart underlined his aim was, "I got
you. Here's my one moment; and I'm going to, with a scalpel, go
at the crux of your identity as a politician, and expose it for
everybody to see." Of course, The Daily Show host
never took this approach President Obama. Instead, the President
"summoned" the liberal comedian to the White House for "secret visits"
over several years. Stewart also tossed softballs at the Democrat during
his last appearance on the program.
Near
the end of the segment, Rose wondered, "Do you think that you can find
something that's equally right for you again; or you just simply hit a
home run there — you found the perfect place for you?" Stewart answered,
in part, that the show "gave me great satisfaction, and it gave me
great confidence." However, he indicated that he took greater "joy" in
his children. The three CBS This Morning anchors fawned over this
answer, with Gayle King replying, "God, that's so beautifully said!...I just love him!"
Rose added his "there was nothing quite like him" line. The journalists
then gave examples of the "extraordinary collection" on The Daily Show, with O'Donnell naming Catholic-bashing Samantha Bee [video below].
The transcript of the relevant portions of the Jon Stewart segment from the November 22, 2016 edition of CBS This Morning:
CHARLIE
ROSE (from pre-recorded interview): Over the sixteen years, how did the
show evolve? What did it become that it was not at the beginning?
[CBS News Graphic: "Stewart's Moment Of Zen: How The Daily Show Went From Comedy To Commentary"]
JON STEWART: I mean, in truth, I think the evolution of the show — we just became better at — at doing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE ANNOUNCER (from Comedy Central's The Daily Show): This is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
STEWART:
What we tried to develop was a decent internal barometer of what worked
for the show, and how well we could execute it.
STEWART (from year 2000 episode of Comedy Central's The Daily Show): It is Bush by 225 votes. So, as you can see, it's never going to end. (audience laughs)
STEWART (from 2008 episode of Comedy Central's The Daily Show): I'm going to on my Obama. Are you ready? Here we go. (audience cheers and laughs) "Yes, we can." (Stewart humorously laughs)
STEWART (from 2015 episode of Comedy Central's The Daily Show):
What an entrance — an escalator down! (audience laughs) I haven't seen
an entrance that majestic since my friend met me at The Gap after
grabbing an Orange Julius. (audience laughs)
STEWART:
So, you know, you could never look at a piece and go, like, I don't
know if this is Emmy-worthy. (Rose laughs) And we're an Emmy
Award-winning show—
ROSE: (laughs) Yes, indeed—
STEWART: You had to try and keep your own morality and integrity as the beacon for where you wanted the material to go.
STEWART (from 2015 episode of Comedy Central's The Daily Show): I have one simple goal—
BILL O'REILLY: Yeah—
STEWART: I want you to admit that there is such a thing as white privilege. That's all I want I want to do—
O'REILLY: I know. I knew you were going to— (audience cheers and applauds)
(...)
ROSE: So Chris, what did it become? It became, for all of us, a, kind of, cultural event.
CHRIS SMITH, AUTHOR, "THE DAILY SHOW (THE BOOK)": Yeah, and that's interesting—
ROSE: More than a show?
SMITH:
Yeah. It's easy to forget in 2016 what the media world looked like in
1996, 1997, 1999 — where Comedy Central was — you know, still kind of a
sketchy proposition.
STEWART (from 2003 episode of Comedy Central's The Daily Show):
We're going to have an honest, open debate between the President of the
United States; and the one man, we believe, has the insight and the
cajones to stand up to him.
STEWART: One of the pivotal segments on the show that we were able to do through — you know, the 'Bush versus Bush' back in the—
SMITH: 2003.
STEWART: 2003 — he knows this way better than I do, by the way (Smith and Rose laugh).
STEWART (from 2003 episode of Comedy Central's The Daily Show): Mr. President, is the idea to just build a new country that we like better?
PRESIDENT
GEORGE W. BUSH (from 2003 speech): We will tear down the apparatus of
terror, and we help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free.
BUSH (from 2000 presidential debate): I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation building.
STEWART:
People used to come up to me, in the news business: how do you guys
find the clip of the guy contradicting himself (Rose laughs) — you know,
from five years ago? And I go, we have a — we have a TiVo. We record
it; and then, we go back and we — we search for it.
(...)
SMITH: What they found, early on, was a tone—
STEVE CARELL (from 1999 episode of Comedy Central's The Daily Show): It's every reporter's dream to spend a day—
SMITH: They found a tone in a piece Steve Carell did with John McCain in late 1999.
CARELL: The best way to get to a presidential candidate's bus is through his wife.
SMITH: Carell is a world-class improviser.
CARELL: Let's do a lightning round—
SMITH: The difficulty in this is you got world-class improvisers working with civilians who don't know they're in an improv.
CARELL:
Senator, how do you reconcile the fact that you were one of the most
vocal critics of pork-barrel politics; and yet, while you chairman of
the Commerce Committee, that committee set a record for unauthorized
appropriations.
SMITH: And McCain freezes. There's a deer in the headlights moment.
STEWART: And then, what do we have to do at that point? We let you go. It's catch and release.
CARELL: (laughs) I'm just kidding—
STEWART: Because we have to undercut it with a laugh.
CARELL: I don't even know what that means!
STEWART:
So, it's that idea of, I got you. Here's my one moment; and I'm going
to, with a scalpel, go at the — the crux of your identity as a
politician, and expose it for everybody to see.
(...)
ROSE:
Do you think that you can find something that's equally right for you
again; or you just simply hit a home run there — you found the perfect
place for you, and it was 17 years of—
STEWART:
Yes. It was a gift that was — that I was fortunate enough to be graced
with for all that time, and to be in contact with all of those
incredible people. But I — I don't expect to find that again.
STEWART (from 2015 episode of Comedy Central's The Daily Show): This is just — it's a conversation. This show isn't ending. We're merely taking a small pause in the conversation.
STEWART: There's a difference between satisfaction and joy. This gave me great satisfaction—
ROSE: But?
STEWART:
And it gave me great confidence. But joy — joy — driving a couple of
knucklehead kids home from school that I get to sit and listen—
ROSE: That's joy—
STEWART: Joy.
GAYLE KING (live): God, that's so beautifully said!
NORAH O'DONNELL: Oh, I know!
KING: The difference between — there is a difference between satisfaction and joy. I just love him!
O'DONNELL: Yeah—
KING: You — you really feel his — his absence, Charlie, during these times, don't you?
ROSE: Oh, yeah — indeed — yes. I mean, there was no — there was nothing quite like him. A lot of people did it very well—
KING: Yeah—
ROSE: And we see them and we show their work here during the political year—
KING: Yeah—
ROSE: But Jon had a special place.
KING:
He did. That 'catch and release' — I forgot, though: it's no fun when
you're on the other side of 'catch and release,' but it sure is fun to
watch.
ROSE: But what's also amazing about The Daily Show is they assembled such an extraordinary collection—
O'DONNELL: Like Steve Carell!
ROSE: Steven Carell and Stephen Colbert—
KING: Stephen Colbert—
ROSE: And so many others — John Oliver — so many others—
O'DONNELL: Samantha Bee—
KING: Samantha Bee—
ROSE: Samantha Bee — especially Samantha Bee. You can see my full conversation with Jon Stewart tonight on my PBS program.
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By Brent Baker
Neil Diamond: “Good times never seemed so good!” Refrain from CNN staff and Democrats: “So good, so good!”
The
days, weeks and months ahead must have seemed to hold such glory with
Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech just hours earlier setting a course
to her inevitable November victory.
Looking back, this moment may have been the high point for Democrats and the news media – but I repeat myself.
The moment: 1:18 AM EDT (Thursday night, July 28/Friday morning July 29) hours after Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech.
The location: Inside the CNN Grill in Philadelphia.
The participants: CNN staff, Democrats and Democratic National Convention attendees.
The
what: They broke into celebratory song as CNN correspondent Brianna
Keilar (the one on stage wearing a white dress) led the joyous gathering
in singing along to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” as CNN joined in
live following a commercial break.
Needless
to say, no such spontaneous celebration broke out live on CNN the week
before in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention.
This video was first posted July 30 on NewsBusters by Curtis Houck.
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